Lance Armstrong's plans to ride this year's Tour de France route for charity have been branded "completely disrespectful".

The disgraced cyclist plans to take part to raise money for former footballer Geoff Thomas's Cure Leukaemia charity.

Armstrong's seven Tour victories have been wiped from the record books due to doping violations.

World cycling chief Brian Cookson's labelled the idea as "inappropriate".

"I'm sure that Geoff Thomas means well, but frankly I think that's completely inappropriate and disrespectful to the Tour, disrespectful to the current riders, and disrespectful to the UCI and the anti-doping community," said Cookson.

"I think Lance would be well-advised not to take part in that."